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tym-pan-o-gram (noun)

an examination used to test the condition of the middle ear and mobility of the eardrum, and the conduction bones by creating variations of air pressure in the ear canal.

Basically, it sounded like a cool name for a blog intended to be primarily about music. We’d both had other blogs previously, but over beers it was decided that more damage could be done as a joint venture. And here we are.

We share a passion for the undiscovered and under-appreciated, and hope that you’ll be able to find something you love as well.

Disclaimer

The music offered on this blog is for sampling purposes only. If you enjoy something you hear here, please go out and buy the music, see a show, or purchase some merchandise. Posted mp3s are available for a limited period of time only.

If there are any materials featured here that are your intellectual property, and you would prefer them removed, please notify us and we will be happy to oblige.

Submissions

Please note that our personal email addresses are for just that - personal communication. Please don't send submissions to our personal addresses, as we'll probably tell you to take us off of your list. But if you want to say hello, tell us what a great job we're doing, etc., then use our personal addresses all you want.

About the Author: Dave

I like music. I can't describe how I came to like the music I do, because I don't know how or why, I just do.

Many years ago, Napoleon's brother, my great-great-great-great-great-great Grandfather, came to America. He was asked his name on Ellis Island while being processed as an immigrant. Not understanding English, he was under the impression that he was being asked how he had arrived in the new land. So he turned around and pointed at the sea vessel and said, 'LaBarge.'

About the Author: Andy

I come by my music taste of my own free will. My friends listened to 2Pac, my parents to contemporary Christian and me? Sunny Day Real Estate. I can’t explain it.

Author Archives: Andy

By not keeping my ear to the ground for the past however many months, I am likely to come across a number of artists who have already established themselves that I am new to. That said, one of my favorite discoveries from my lengthy blogging hiatus is Oakland’s Day Wave. I mentioned Day Wave last summer when I put up something about Beach Slang, but I never took the time to write about him/them in any more depth than just the mention. And as it turned out, their Headcase EP was one of my favorite releases of last year – all shiny and sad and self-deprecating.

Since that EP, Day Wave has released a few new songs – all worth the time investment – but this track is from a recently announced new EP entitled Hard to Read that will be released on March 4, and springtime can’t get here quickly enough.

“Gone” is the epitome of Day Wave’s sound – shimmering pop hooks and jangly guitars reminiscent of the best parts of Eighties post-punk/new wave. Think The Cure without nearly as much despair and you’re in the neighborhood. Hard to Read will be available digitally through the folks at Grand Jury – and, in addition – there will be a physical release forthcoming that combines both of Day Wave’s EPs – perfect for people like me who can’t stop listening to his output.

It’s been a long time since anyone heard new material from the Brooklyn outfit – nearly four years by the time the actual album hits shelves, in fact. And even after all that time (a lifetime in the fast-paced music world in which we live), the experimental foursome doesn’t disappoint their long-suffering fans with this new track, “I Am Chemistry.”

Sure, it’s not as immediate as “Longevity” or “Ambling Alp” was, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. It’s a slow burn, building to a children’s choir singing about how their mother told them not to fool with oleander. Kids, your mother was right about that.

Amen & Goodbye is the title of the new album, and it sees the light of day on April 1 (which is shaping up to be a hell of a date for new music). It’s available for preordering in various formats now through Yeasayer’s website, if you don’t want to wait to secure your copy, or if you’re the type of music collector who is partial to limited edition colored vinyl.

The impact that Jeff Buckley has had on my own musical journey is impossible to understate. “Last Goodbye” was my initial introduction to Buckley’s music, and I branched out after purchasing Grace, delving into Leonard Cohen and Nina Simone, and moving on from there. Buckley’s music underpins most everything else that comes after it, in an autobiographical sense.

Generally I have disdain for “found” posthumous material because it always feels like it’s a way to capitalize on an artist’s passing. When I heard about this upcoming release of “new” Buckley material, entitled You and I, that same skepticism cropped up – despite the fact that it’s been nearly twenty years since Buckley’s untimely death.

But now they’ve released the second track from You and I – which is mostly comprised of covers ranging in scope from Led Zeppelin to The Smiths to Sly & The Family Stone. This particular cover, of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman”, showcases the brilliance of both artists – Dylan’s songwriting and Buckley’s arresting voice and knack for making someone else’s song his own – and it is just breathtaking.

You and I is being released on March 11. If you pre-order it on iTunes, you can get this track, along with Buckley’s version of Sly & The Family Stone’s “Everyday People”, immediately.

Slightly before the conclusion of 2015, Austin’s Holy Wave released a seven song EP titled The Evil Has Landed, Pt. II. Because of its release in the music release wasteland that December has become (see: every Best of 20XX list released throughout the month), the EP likely missed a lot of appreciative ears. This is your opportunity to correct that oversight, friends.

The EP isn’t actually seven new songs, though. As EP’s are wont to do, there’s a rehashing of “Son of Sound” from the band’s excellent, 2014 sophomore effort Relax, aptly named “Son of Sound 2.” But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth your time. “Son of Sound 2” is, to my ears, a fine retelling, as is “Lady Madonna’s Operation” – a surfy pop number imbued with a healthy dose of psychedelic.

If you’re the type that likes your music in physical format, you can (and should) pick up a 10″ version of The Evil Has Landed, Pt. II from the fine Levitation label, along with the aforementioned Relax. The band is off to Europe around the beginning of March; no shows on North American soil have yet been announced for 2016.

As a discerning music fan, it is not impossible for me to recognize the greatness of Explosions in the Sky, even if, on a personal level, I can only take them in smallish doses. Each member of the Austin, TX five piece is adept at their respective instrument, and together they create an oeuvre that is formidable and intense, despite (or, more likely, because of) the absence of lyrics.

Maybe it’s their inclusion in various soundtracks (Friday Night Lights, most notably for this writer), but the band’s music transcends mood. It’s equal parts grounded and ethereal.

And now they’re back with a new album – their first since 2011’s Take Care Take Care Take Care – entitled The Wilderness. Out April 1, The Wilderness’ first single is the appropriately twitchy “Disintegration Anxiety.” Stream the single below, and make sure to take deep breaths as you’re listening.